Gameweek 12 of the IFFC Championship took place on Sunday March 27, 2011. The game was originaly planned to be played late February but was cancelled due to the snow. A week after the 2-0 loss against Afrika United, the Barbars were craving some points! Before the game, the Strollers were 5 points above the Barbarians and knew that victory was the only acceptable outcome.

The Barbars lined up as they did in their last two games. Carlos "Magic Hands" Muniz started as goalkeeper, and as usual he did a great job imposing himself in the air and giving his defense confidence. "Kaiser" Keith started as sweeper, doing what he does the best, playing football and arguing with the ref. Dave Carini and "Super Daddy" Phil were right and left fullbacks respectively , and Thomas "Caesar" Santoni started as central defender.

The starting eleven, who we should now call the winning eleven, started the game with an early goal from Kevin "The Dino" Plume (10'). Confident after this good start, the Barbarians did not relax and found a crack for a second goal ten minutes before halftime, when, after toying with the Strollers' defenders, Dary Stone placed a surgical strike behind the keeper (35').

Halftime arrived and it was time for the usual comments and tactical readjustments. After the break, the Barbarians came back on the pitch determined to win the game. The second half began at a slower pace, focusing on holding their lead and not making any defensive mistakes. This strategy worked, and the opponent saw no open goal for the remainder of the match.

As the defense held solid, the Barbarians' attack continued to get good opportunities. Dary's one goal tally had not nearly satisfied him, and so he tacked on two more in the final twenty minutes of the game (70', 85') giving the Barbarians the impressive 4-0 win.

This was a strong all-around performance from Barbars, who took 3 very important points and kept a clean sheet. They are looking forward to next week's fixture against leader Forbidden City and they promise a great battle for points!

The man of the match award was awarded to Mo Yasin, who, as the great captain he is, never stopped running, completing passes, tackling, and harrassing every single Strollers player on the field. Special mention to Dary for his hat trick and to Kevin, who not only scored a goal but also delighted us with a wonderful Ippon.

Another special mention goes to the bench and supporters, B-Team cheerleaders, Janet and Jochanan "The Tank", whose support, spirit, and guidance from the sidelines were no doubt the Barbarians' secret "12th Man" in the match.

Tim Le French.